2010
by my name is keith stone
Summary: President Santos and Josh must find a replacement for Secretary Vinick while also keeping an eye on the republican primaries.
1. Chapter 1

_January 2010_

_Tuesday, 7:33 AM_

"Did you see it last night?" Bram asked Josh.

"See what?" Josh asked, not even looking up from his desk.

"The debate," Bram said.

"Seven republicans arguing over who is the most conservative," Josh responded, "I'd rather take my chances with Jersey Shore."

"That's the thing, they didn't really argue about each other, just the president."

Josh finally looked up at Bram, "They're nitpicking at the president? The president who reformed education, health care, and avoided World War III all in his first hundred days in office? Not to mention all that he has done since then, all leading to him having an approval rating of 76%. They're just grasping at straws."

"Sullivan really came in hard," Bram said.

"Of course he did. He's the presumptive nominee, which means he's already geared up for the general election. What did he say?"

"That the president has been too soft on crime and on foreign relations."

"Too soft on crime?! He banned six assault weapons in the Gun Reform Bill last year! And foreign relations for crying out loud?! All of the world leaders love him! They love him more than they loved Bartlet!"

"Josh," Margaret said as she swung the door open.

"Margaret, please use the intercom."

"You broke it last week after you met with the Speaker of the House, remember?"

Bram left the office trying to hide a smirk. "What is it Margaret?" Josh asked her.

"Secretary Vinick's office is on line 5 for you, they say it's urgent."

_8:00 AM_

"Thank you for meeting with me, Mr. Prime Minister," President Santos said as the Prime Minister got ready to leave the oval office, "And enjoy the rest of your stay in the United States."

"Thank you, Mr. President," the Prime Minister responded before leaving.

"Josh," the president said as he turned around to see his chief of staff in the room, "if you're here to tell me about the debate last night, I've already heard all about it. Helen couldn't stop complaining about how ignorant they all were."

"No," Josh responded, "there's something else."

"Josh," the president said, sensing a level of discomfort on Josh's face, "what is it?"

"Arnold Vinick collapsed last night," Josh responded, "he's in the hospital now, in critical condition."

_6:45 PM_

President Santos and Josh waited in the hospital waiting room, when Vinick's nurse walked in.

"He's awake," the nurse said, "but only one visitor for now."

The president went into the hospital room.

"Mr. President," Arnie said to him.

"Mr. Secretary, how are you feeling?"

"My age."

The president smirked.

"Look," Arnie said, "it looks like I'm going to need to step down."

"Are you sure?"

"Eh, I was more than likely going to once your second term began anyway, and I don't think my daughter will let me out of her sight once she flies in later tonight. Don't worry, I won't announce anything until you guys already have my successor in place."

"I'm not going to be able to find a better person for the job than you, Arnie. It's because of you that we negotiated a deal with the Chinese and Russians four years ago."

"Oh please, you've got to give yourself more credit for that. Anyway, I'll have my office draw up a list of potential successors right away."

"Only if you feel up to it, don't feel rushed at all. There are no international crises going on that require the immediate attention of the Secretary of State."

"Thank you, Mr. President."

"Thank you, Mr. Secretary."


	2. Chapter 2

_January 2010_

_7:30 AM_

"What about Reynolds?" Bram asked Josh, "Wasn't he the president's second choice during transition?"

"Yeah, but he's virtually unconfirmable by the senate. There isn't a single republican in the country who doesn't hate him, and there are a few democrats as well who aren't too fond of him."

"So who would be someone who is both the right one for the job _and _confirmable by both the senate and the house?"

"Nancy McNally would probably work," Josh stated, "There's no doubt that she has the experience, I can't really see any reason why she couldn't be confirmed, and the president really likes her."

"So should we bring it to the president?"

"Yeah, I'll talk to him about it later, and then you and I will meet with Royce and then Sellner to see if there would be any problem confirming her."

"I have a feeling you'd have a hard time getting a hold of Royce, since he's probably halfway to New Hampshire by now."

"He's still running?! Give me a break! He finished in dead last in Iowa, he's got no shot in hell!"

"The president didn't do so well in Iowa four years ago," Bram pointed out.

"Alright, we'll meet with Sellner today, and we'll get Tripplehorn in here some time tomorrow."

_2 Weeks Later_

"It has just been announced," said the news anchor on CNN, "that Governor Ray Sullivan of West Virginia has won the New Hampshire primary. The more shocking news, however, is that Senator Robert Royce of Pennsylvania has finished in second place after finishing in dead last in the Iowa caucus two weeks ago. Royce, who was believed by many to have been dead in this race, jumped ahead of former Ohio governor Mike Reed and the former Speaker of the House Jeff Haffley to gain a large amount of momentum heading into next week's Florida primary."

"How the hell did he pull that off?" Josh asked himself.

"Do you think he's got a shot?" Bram asked, startling Josh who thought he was alone in the room.

"You know," Josh said, "when Sam was my deputy, he maybe spent as much time in here in one week that you do in one day."

"Maybe that's why you were so shocked when he decided to run for congress again. So anyway, do you think that Royce has a shot?"

"After this, yeah, definitely. Which is a big problem for us."

"Why is that?"

"Because with Sullivan, we know that we're running against just another conservative, but Royce is moderate enough to take away a decent amount of democratic votes from us. Not to mention that he takes away our Pennsylvania advantage that we've got with Baker."

"So if he wins Florida next week..."

"Then he's almost untouchable," Josh said.


	3. Chapter 3

_February 2010_

_10:30 PM_

"Great work tonight, Lou," Josh said as he was walking back to his office.

"It must have been really good," Lou replied, "since it got a complement from you."

"People are already calling it the best State of the Union address in half a century," Josh said, "which is exactly what we needed in an election year."

"Once a campaigner, always a campaigner," Lou said, "by the way, do you know how Royce is looking heading into Super Tuesday?"

"The guy just won Florida," Josh said, "I'd say he's looking pretty good right about now."

"This could be good," Lou said, "without a shoe-in nominee, it could be bad for the republicans heading into the general election."

"Maybe," Josh said, "but I still don't like the idea of Royce taking away democratic votes, including the ones in Pennsylvania."

"You don't think that Vinick will endorse Royce in California, do you?" Lou asked.

Josh stopped. He had never even thought about that before, but now that Lou brought it up, it made perfect sense.

"Margaret!" he shouted as he walked into his office, "Get me Arnold Vinick as soon as possible."

"Josh," Margaret said, "your wife just called."

"What is it?" he asked her.

"You should probably get to the hospital right away," Margaret said.

_5:34 AM_

"She's so beautiful," Josh said as he held his newborn daughter in his arms.

"She looks like your mother," Donna said while watching from her bed.

"We need a name," Josh realized, "we still don't have a name."

"How about Joanie?" Donna suggested. Josh looked at his wife and grinned, then thought of his late sister.

"Alright," Josh said, "Joanie."

_6:30 AM_

"Josh!" Sam shouted as he walked through the hospital hall.

"Congressman," Josh replied, "what are you doing here?"

"You think I'd miss out on meeting my best friend's child?" Sam replied, hugging Josh, "Boy or girl?"

"Girl," Josh answered, "we named her Joanie. Joanie Marie Lyman."

Donna handed Sam the baby, and he rocked her for a little bit before handing her back to her mother.

"Josh," he said, "I don't mean to dampen the mood, but there was actually another reason why I came here."

Josh and Sam left the room to speak in the hallway.

"Arnold Vinick is meeting with Robert Royce later today," Sam told him, "I only know because one of my staffers is related to an intern on the Royce campaign."

"Damn," Josh said to himself, "I was afraid this was going to happen. Vinick's endorsement basically guarantees Royce to win California on Super Tuesday."

"I really don't think that you have anything to worry about," Sam told him, "Most polls are showing that Santos wins in a landslide come November whether he's running against Royce or Sullivan."

"You and I both know that polls this early don't mean anything regarding the general election," Josh said to him, "and it's my job to prepare for this kind of stuff."

"What are you going to do?" Sam asked him.

"Have you kept in contact with CJ or Toby?"


	4. Chapter 4

_February 2010_

_7:45 AM_

"How's Donna?" Margaret asked Josh as he walked into his office.

"She's doing really well, thanks for asking," Josh responded, "are they here?"

"They're inside your office, waiting," Margaret replied.

Josh walked inside his office to see two of his best friends waiting for him, CJ Cregg-Concannon and Toby Ziegler.

"Hello Joshua," CJ said as he walked in.

"Thanks for coming, guys," he said as he hugged them both, "it's good too see you both."

"Congratulations, by the way," Toby said as he sat back down in his chair.

"Thanks," Josh said, "listen, I'm just going to cut to the chase. A few weeks ago, it looked like this election was just going to be a typical liberal vs. conservative race, but Royce is making things complicated for us."

"I was afraid this was what it was about," CJ said to herself.

"I'm going to need some serious help on this campaign, especially since I can't run it myself since I have duties to handle at the White House," Josh explained to them.

"I can't just leave my family for half a year, Josh," CJ said to him.

"I promise, neither of you will have to even start until after the republican primaries are over," Josh said to them, "there isn't anybody in the world that I would trust running this campaign more than the two of you guys."

"I'm flattered, Josh," Toby said, "but have you thought of what the press would think about having the president's re-election campaign run by someone who has been indicted for federal crimes in the past."

"Toby," Josh said, "the public is on your side with that, and they always have been. You're teaching at Columbia University, and your students love you."

"That won't make the republicans back off this fall," Toby said, "they'll hammer Santos for it."

"I've already talked to the president about this, Toby, and he wants you on board just as much as I do, even if it means trouble from the right."

"I'll need some time to think about it," Toby said.

"What about you, CJ?" Josh asked.

"I'll talk to Danny," she said after a long pause, "but I'm not making any guarantees."

"Thank you guys so much!" Josh exclaimed.

_2 Weeks Later_

"Any word on Michigan?" Josh asked Bram.

"Sullivan's still leading, but not by much, and it's too close to call," Bram responded.

"That's not good," Josh said, "Royce has already won Pennsylvania tonight, and with Florida from before and then a win in Michigan and California, he's going to be tough to beat for the nomination."

"California hasn't been called yet," Bram said.

"Don't speak so soon," Lou called out to them before turning up the TV.

"After tallying 90% of the votes, we are now ready to declare Senator Robert Royce the winner of the California primary," said the news anchor on the TV, "that gives the Pennsylvania senator four victories tonight adding on to Pennsylvania, Maine, and Colorado, while Governor Ray Sullivan of West Virginia has won Georgia, South Carolina, both Dakotas, Louisiana, and Virginia. Michigan and Delaware are still too close to call."

"Arnold Vinick's endorsement possibly clinched him the nomination," Josh said to himself.

"Michigan is still in play," Bram said, "if Royce loses there, then that shifts the momentum back to Sullivan."

"Royce now only needs New York and Ohio, and he's got the nomination," Josh said.

"Josh," Margaret shouted, "CJ is on the phone for you."

Josh rushed into his office and picked up the phone, "CJ! Whats up?"

"Have you gotten an answer from Toby yet?" she asked.

"Yeah, he's in," Josh said, "Why?"

"I'm on board," she said.

"You told me no not even 48 hours ago," he said.

"That was before Royce won California," she said, "is the offer still on the table?"

"Of course," he said, "I'll call you once the nominee is chosen by the republicans."

"No," she said, "I want to get started right away. No more waiting, let's beat the republicans before they even have a nominee."

"Yes ma'am," Josh said to her.


	5. Chapter 5

_February 2010_

_3:45 PM_

"Josh," Margaret said into the intercom.

"Yes," Josh replied.

"Senator Trippelhorn is waiting for you in the Roosevelt Room."

Josh left his office and entered the Roosevelt Room, where the Senate Minority Leader, Wendell Trippelhorn, was waiting for him.

"Senator," Josh said while extending his hand to shake.

"Good to see you Josh," the senator replied.

"I never got a chance to thank you for getting the votes we needed to approve Nancy McNally as Secretary of State by the way," Josh said to him.

"That's not why I'm here, just in case you were wondering," the senator said.

"Actually," Josh said, "I have no idea why you are here."

"It's about the convention," the senator started, "I was wondering if you guys had a speaker booked to introduce the president."

"We were considering President Bartlet," Josh said, "but apparently he and his wife are going to be out of the country at that time. Why do you ask?"

"I'd like to throw my name into consideration," Trippelhorn said to him.

"Well, I'm sure the president would be honored for you to do so, but why the eagerness?"

"I'd like to get some name recognition for 2014," the senator replied.

"You're planning on running again?" Josh asked.

"I feel like I made some mistakes in 2006 that I'm sure I can fix next time around," the senator said.

"You do realize that Baker is almost a shoe-in for the nomination, right?"

"You should know better than anyone that being a shoe-in before the election doesn't guarantee anything," the senator said to him, "Hoynes was a shoe-in in '98, and Russell was a shoe-in in '06, and you beat both of those guys."

"Okay," Josh said, "sure, I'll bring it to the president, and we'll let you know by the end of the week."

"Thanks Josh," Trippelhorn said.

Josh then got back in his office, where CJ was waiting for him.

"What did Trippelhorn want?" she asked.

"He wants to introduce the president at the convention to give him some name recognition for the 2014 election," Josh answered, "so what do you have for me, Claudia Jean?"

"I wanted to get an idea of when the president was going to begin a campaign trail," she said to him.

"Well, he's pretty busy right now with the issue in Taiwan, but the original plan was to start as soon as the primary season was over."

"Well we've already established that we're starting sooner than that, so when?"

"I'll have to ask him about it, but I can't tell you when I'll have an answer."

"Josh, I can't do my job if you don-"

"LOOK! You of all people should know how busy the president's schedule is!," Josh paused for a moment, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

"Does the baby have you up all night?" CJ asked.

"I haven't slept in days," he replied, "and I feel guilty for being here all day while Donna's stuck at home with Joanie and my mother. How did you and Danny handle this when Leo was born?"

"Well, we were both home most of the time," she replied with a smirk, "but it's hard for everyone, Josh, not just you and Donna. She knows that you're busy, she worked here for six and a half years, remember?"

"Yeah I know," Josh replied, "and she hasn't been giving me any trouble about it, I just feel guilty, that's all."

"Don't," CJ said, "you're normal, believe it or not."

_A few hours later_

"Where are the hostages now?" Santos asked General Alexander.

"In Taiwan," the general replied, "the Taiwanese won't release any of them until the Chinese agree to discuss independence."

"Okay," replied the president, "We'll meet in the situation room later to discuss possible options for sending troops into Taiwan to rescue the hostages."

"Thank you, Mr. President," replied all of the officials before they left the room. The president then walked back to his desk to speak to Josh.

"It seems like once we solve one international crisis," the president said, "another comes up."

"You're just realizing that now, Mr. President?" Josh asked.

"What did the minority leader want?"

"He wants to introduce you at the convention," Josh replied.

"He's a senator from Minnesota," the president stated, "the convention is in Chicago, so wouldn't it make more sense to have an Illinois official introduce me?"

"He wants to run for President in 2014," Josh said, "and he thinks this will give him name recognition."

"He's going to challenge Baker?"

"We don't even know if Baker is going to run, Mr. President," Josh pointed out, "and even if he does, the White House can't secure the nomination for him."

"Who else were we considering?" the president asked.

"Jack Enlow, and a few others," Josh said.

"Tell Tripplehorn that he can speak at the convention and introduce the vice president, but that we want an Illinois politician to introduce me. Is that all?"

"No," Josh said, "CJ was in here before, and she wants to know when you wanted to start campaigning."

"I need to deal with this crisis in Taiwan first," the president replied.

"That's what I told her, but she wants an answer now."

"Josh," the president said, "take a day off, Donna needs you, and your daughter needs you. I'll set up a meeting to speak with CJ, but for you, go home, and come back in two days."

"I still have meetings for today," Josh said.

"Tell Margaret to postpone them."

"Yes, Mr. President."

"Was there anything else?"

"No. Thank you Mr. President."


	6. Chapter 6

_February 2010_

_10:19 PM_

"With 85% of the votes tallied," the news anchor started, "we are now ready to declare Governor Ray Sullivan of West Virginia the winner of the Ohio presidential primary."

"Yes!" Josh exclaimed.

"Josh," Donna said, "Joanie is asleep."

"Sorry," he said.

"So remind me again why this is good news."

"If Royce won Ohio," Josh started, "then New York would have given him the nomination, but now we're going to go deeper into the primary season, no matter who wins New York."

"Meaning that since the republicans go longer without a nominee..."

"The more unrest there is on the republican voters."

"Do you think we have time to talk about something else?" she asked him.

"Sure," he said, "like what?"

"Like the future."

Josh turned to look at his wife, "What about the future?"

"You and I both know that our family can't function with you at work all of the time."

"Donna," he said, "we talked about this before we got married."

"Yeah, but that was before we had a baby," she said, "I know we were going to wait to have kids until you were ready to leave politics, but this pregnancy hit both of us by surprise, and we're going to have to adjust."

"So, are you asking me to quit my job?"

"Not right away," she said, "I understand that the president needs you right now, but maybe after the election is over and he's making cabinet transitions for his second term, you could think about it."

"What do you suppose I do then?" he asked her.

"Josh, you can't seriously believe that you'll have trouble finding a job, can you?"

"I like my job," he said, "I like doing what I do, and I can't just leave my job to do something that I don't like."

"Maybe you can teach," she suggested, "you're well connected with the people at Harvard, maybe they can help you get a position there."

"I don't know Donna, this is a really tough decision to make."

"You don't have to make it now," she told him, "but just remember, you're a father now, and you have whole new responsibilities."


	7. Chapter 7

_March 2010_

"With the New York primary just two days away," the news anchor started, "polls are showing Governor Ray Sullivan and Senator Robert Royce to be virtually tied."

"The republicans could go into the convention without a nominee," Lou stated.

"We can only hope," Josh said to her, "what was it you wanted to see me about?"

"Jane Braun," Lou said.

Josh sat down at his desk, "What about her?" he asked.

"A reporter from the New York Times has come to me with a heads up about her," Lou said as she sat down in front of the desk, "particularly some of her past, um, _excursions_."

Josh was confused, "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember when she was hired to the Vinick/Sullivan campaign late in the game in the last election?"

"Yeah," Josh said, "after the powerplant, but how is that any of our concern?"

"Apparently this reporter has a source claiming that she and Ray Sullivan had a few... special meetings."

Josh sat back and started thinking to himself, "Which reporter is this?"

"I don't remember his name, but he insists that his source is credible and that he'll hold the story until after New York if we up his press credentials."

Josh shook his head in amusement, "It's just some rookie trying to make his way in the big leagues. He's probably got nothing, don't give him the time of day."

_The Next Day_

"Ryan Lawrence from the _New York Times_ is reporting that West Virginia Governor and presidential candidate Ray Sullivan had sexual relations with Republican campaign strategist Jane Braun when Braun worked on the Vinick/Sullivan campaign in the fall of 2006," reported a news anchor, "there has not been any comment yet from the Sullivan campaign, but this is sure to hurt the governor heading into the crucial New York primary tomorrow."

"Don't give him the time of day, huh?" Lou sarcastically remarked to Josh.

"It's over," Josh said while staring at the TV, "Royce is going to be the nominee. Margaret! Get CJ on the phone right away."


End file.
